In less than six months the coronavirus has drastically changed our lives. All of us have experienced to some extent negative emotions due to this pandemic and nationwide lockdown. The socio-economic effects related to the coronavirus create a great amount of stress at a societal level. People are worried about their health, future and family. These uncertainties make it difficult to cope with fear, anxiety and stress. Listening to Indian classical music can help you stay in balance and decrease your stress levels.
Stress
Stress is a general activation reaction to a stimulus that could mean both a challenge (in a positive way) and a threat (in a negative sense). Negative stress is an arousal that we often experience for a long time and find ourselves unable to control i.e. when we feel restless or scared. Fortunately, in the last couple of years scientists have conducted several studies on alternative treatments to lower negative stress levels with the intervention of music. This article presents a few points on this topic, in the hope of helping individuals handle crises.
Music intervention studies
Martina de Witte is a lecturer in music therapy and a PhD researcher who conducted a quantitative social research project entitled: “Effect of Music interventions on Stress Reduction in Medical and Mental Health Care Settings.” She researched the correlation between listening to music and stress, focusing on the physiological and psychological effects. The physiological effects of stress are increased heart rate or blood pressure. The psychological effects of stress are restlessness, nervousness, anxiety, subjective worry and chronic fatigue. The outcome provided by this study is that music intervention can lead to stress reduction and increased well-being.
Music as medicine
Music is often associated with pleasant and positive emotions. For example, when we are in love some of us listen to romantic music, because it evokes our positive feelings. Listening to music increases the neurotransmitter dopamine (the hormone that boosts our happiness levels)y. According to De Witte, music interventions can be regarded as purposeful musical exercises or methods in which music listening, music-making or singing is central. This stimulates the ‘cuddle’ hormone oxytocin. Music intervention can be used as a cost-effective and non-addictive medicine to reduce stress levels (lowering heart rate, blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol).
OM
Ancient Hindu scriptures of the Vedic era such as the Ṛgveda and Sāmaveda presented the concept of the “sacred sound” i.e. the syllable OM thousands of years ago. Sound and the meaning of sound, vāc, the “voice” is considered to be divine according to Hindu scholars. Vác is depicted as Sarasvati, the Goddess of music and knowledge and is manifested in every sound.
Bhaja Govindam
It’s not a surprise that music plays a vital role in Hindu philosophy. In fact, sound is interwoven in almost every ritual. The idea of the sacred sound is, for example, incorporated into mantra chanting, and singing kīrtana, and devotional songs. The greatest philosopher of Sanātana Dharma, Jagad Guru Ādi Śaṃkara also gave importance to the sacred sound. He composed a very popular devotional poem named ‘Bhaja Govindam’, where he connects the spiritual path of knowledge, jǹāna with the path of devotion, bhakti, that is primarily expressed through chanting and singing. The repeating phrase of his well-known composition is:
“Bhaja Govindam Bhaja Govindam Govindam Bhaja Mūdhamate
Samprāpte Sannihite Kāle Nahi Nahi Rakshati Dukṛñkaraṇe”
“Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, Worship Govinda, oh foolish one!
Rules of Grammar profit nothing once the hour of death draws nigh”
If we interpret Ādi Śaṃkara’s words and relate it to our modern society we learn that even though we have the capability to accomplish extraordinary achievements and possess all knowledge of this world, it is through devotion or bhakti, that we can achieve a blissful state of mind and even salvation.
Sacred music and sound are primary factors in exploring and experiencing Indian spirituality.
Devotional music has the ability to remove negative emotions and thus stress-related symptoms. This importance of music and performing arts is also expressed through ancient scriptures notably the Nātya Śāstra. Bharat Muni authored Nātya Śāstra, is the descriptive text inspiring majority of the classical art forms in India. It elaborates on how the mind can be influenced by music and also other art forms. The text describes the key concepts of Rasas (“juice, essence or taste”) and Bhāvas (the states of mind) in order to explain the causation and effect of human feelings. Then it goes on to elaborate on the influence of art on Rasas and Bhāvas.
Rasa (“juice, essence”) in Indian aesthetics is a concept connoting an aesthetic flavour created by bhavas, in work of art (performing or visual or literary) that evokes an emotion or feeling in the spectator.
In summary, purposeful music intervention in and outside the medical health care system is nowadays an important subject of study in the West. Some studies have shown that music is a sustainable form of treatment that has no side effects. The easy accessibility of music in combination with minimal costs enables a broad application. Through systematic literature, one may analyze the high-quality clinical research and its implications at several levels, including health care costs. In my humble opinion, Indian music education should also be included from an early age within the Indian Diaspora community. Vedic scholars conveyed various methods of how to use sacred sounds in our daily lives. It is up to us to apply these techniques to effectively reduce negative stress and remain positive even during this pandemic.
References
- Kühlmann, de Rooij, L. F. Kroese, van Dijk, Hunink and Jeekel 2019, Meta-analysis evaluating music interventions for anxiety and pain in surgery.
- Moore Gerety, Finnian McKean. 2015. This Whole World Is OM: Song, Soteriology, and the Emergence of the Sacred Syllable. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
- Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (Online Course), 2018: Hinduism and Sacred Sound: Chant and Music.
- Varma, 2018: Adi Shankaracharya Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker. Tranquebar – Imprints & Co-publishers
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